Registration and Compliance Fees for Singapore Companies

Setting up a company in Singapore is a straightforward and relatively inexpensive process, though it will still require some financial planning.

This article will provide first-time company owners with an insight into how much it costs to incorporate a company in Singapore, as well as the post-incorporation costs involved.

Please note that the price ranges provided hereon may not be comprehensive and will ultimately depend on the corporate secretarial firm engaged and expected complexity of the services. 

How Much Does It Cost to Incorporate a Company?

The company incorporation process in Singapore is fully computerised and done via the BizFile+ portal operated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). For company incorporation, ACRA charges a S$15 fee for name application and a S$300 registration fee, for total administrative fees of S$315.

As a SingPass ID is required to log into the BizFile+ portal, foreigners without SingPass cannot incorporate a company by themselves. Instead, they must engage the services of a corporate secretarial firm to do it for them.

Singapore Citizens with a SingPass ID who are incorporating a company for the first time may also find it useful to obtain such external help to guide them through the process. 

Most corporate secretarial firms in Singapore provide incorporation packages costing between S$500 and S$1,500 depending on the precise scope of services needed, though they may charge more for more complex services. 

Once I Have Incorporated a Company, How Much Does It Cost to Comply with Ongoing Regulatory Requirements?

Once you have incorporated a company, there are several regulatory requirements which must be complied with. In some cases, it might be necessary to obtain external service providers to assist with this.

The following is an overview of the ongoing compliance requirements and their associated costs.

General compliance requirements

Under Singapore law, an incorporated company faces a number of compliance requirements. These include having a registered office in Singapore and having at least 1 Singapore-resident director.

In order to ensure that the company complies with regulatory requirements, Singapore law also requires all Singapore companies to appoint a company secretary who is ordinarily resident in Singapore.

You may refer to our other article for more information on these regulatory compliance requirements. 

The following table provides a brief guide as to what corporate secretarial firms might charge for providing the above services.

Please note that these price ranges are not comprehensive and will ultimately depend on the firm engaged and expected complexity of the services. 

Accounting requirements

A Singapore company is required to keep proper financial accounts and records of its transactions, and to maintain such accounts for at least 5 years.

Public companies and their subsidiaries are also subject to further requirements, in that they must devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls to ensure that transactions are properly authorised and recorded. 

Since these accounting requirements can be complex (especially for first-time company owners), it is highly encouraged to obtain the services of an accredited accounting or book-keeping firm to assist in ensuring accounting compliance.

An estimated range of the fees involved is provided in the following table: 

Filing of annual returns

Unless exempted, a Singapore company is required to file its annual returns (including its financial statements) with ACRA via the BizFile+ portal. This is generally done by the company secretary and will thus usually be incorporated in the price of hiring one from a corporate secretarial firm. 

In addition, ACRA charges an annual filing fee of S$60, which may or may not be included in the price of hiring a corporate secretary.

We recommend that you check with your corporate secretarial firm as to whether the ACRA administrative fees are included in the pricing that they have quoted for their services.

Tax-filing requirements

All companies are required to pay corporate tax on chargeable income derived from Singapore or foreign income remitted into Singapore.

For companies whose taxable annual turnover exceeds S$1 million, they must also pay a consumption tax in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST). 

Accordingly, it is also necessary for companies to file these taxes.

While more information on the filing processes can be found in our articles on corporate tax and GST respectively, we strongly recommend that company owners obtain the services of an accredited accounting firm to assist in the process. This is because these processes can be complex, especially for companies with more compound income structures.

Tax filing services generally cost between S$350 and S$500 per filing.

Audit requirements

In Singapore, all companies are required to appoint an auditor within 3 months of incorporation unless they fulfil the requirements for exemption as a dormant or small company. 

Statutory audit services generally cost from S$3,000 per audit, which may increase depending on the scale and complexity of the company’s financial statements.

Other ad hoc requirements

Besides the above compliance requirements, a company may require other corporate services on an ad hoc basis. Some of these services are listed below:

* The Ministry of Manpower may charge an administrative fee of S$105 per employment pass upon submission of the application, and an additional S$225 when the pass is issued.

** The relevant government agency may charge an administrative fee for processing and issuance of the business licences. The cost for licences in each industry may be found on the GoBusiness Licensing website.

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We hope that this article has provided you an overview on the costs involved in incorporating a company in Singapore.

Should you require the assistance of a corporate secretarial firm with the services mentioned above, feel free to get in touch with our partner for a quotation.

We offer customised package of services tailored to your needs at competitive rates.